Member postings for Ron Laden

Hi Neil,

I must admit I was very surprised, I have watched a lot of minilathe videos on youtube and some I have seen have had 5-6 thou run out. I thought that if I get half that I would be reasonably happy but to have less than half a thou I,m just delighted.

I will look after it Neil, in fact I,m going to strip the chuck and make sure its clean and well lubricated.

Ron

This may be of interest:

A friend gave me two cabinet LED strip lights which had been left over after his new kitchen fit.

They are 36 inch long, low wattage and 1000 lumens. They come with a plug in mains lead plus a short extension lead which allows the lights to be connected one to another. They have an on/off switch plus 2 clips for wall mounting or fixing under a shelf.

I fixed one under a shelf above the minilathe which it lights really well.

They are from Screwfix and cost approx £14 each.

I have both read and been told that the 3 jaw chuck supplied with minilathes is something of a gamble. Some are very good whilst others are not with them well out of true.

Well I must have been lucky or the gods were smiling on me or something. The dial gauge arrived yesterday so I checked the chuck this morning. I first checked the spindle face plate and that had 0.0004" run out so I was very pleased with that figure. I then checked the chuck main body expecting it to worse but it wasnt, it gave the same reading. I then looked for something that would be quite true to check the reading at the jaws, dont have a lot to choose from just yet but used a new medium size centre drill and a new good quality 1/2" tap. I measured both of them on the ground body/shank. To my amazement the run out was 0.0004" for the centre drill and 0.0005" for the tap. To be honest I couldnt believe it would be that good so I put one or two other not so good items up to check the dial gauge was ok and that I wasnt seeing things...lol.

So I am obviously really pleased, I wouldnt imagine you would get much better on a minilathe.

Ron

A couple of pics of part of the chassis and the motor drive temporarily assembled, gives some idea of how it will look. I know the rear wheel is the wrong way around, needs pressing on to be the correct way. 

Edited By Ron Laden on 26/06/2018 08:59:10

Well at long last I managed to make a start on the loco build, pics below..

Pressed the oilite bearings into the 4 axle boxes and also the 2 axle bearings into the motor mounting plates.

Used the bench drill to press the pinion gears onto the 4 motors. I knew the interference fit was not heavy and it didnt take too much effort to press them on. I used a 1/4 drive small extension in the drill chuck with the pinion below and the 1/4 drive end of a socket to support the other end of the motor shaft. Lined it all up with a square and it worked really well.

I also managed to salvage the faulty wheels I purchased. I decided to modify the axles to fit so ran them up in the 3 jaw on the lathe and used strips of medium/fine emery cloth to reduce the diameter. Worked at it gradually until the wheel would slide on to within 2mm from the axle shoulder. I then pressed the wheels home using Loctite 368 retainer to make up the 2 thou difference at the outer face end of the wheel. I was trusting the axle shoulder would keep the wheels square to the axle and they have.

More to press on with tomorrow.

Is it possible to purchase a stock/starter pack of round bar, ideally a mix of alu, steel and brass, short lengths say 6 or 12 inches.

Just wondered if any supplier does this.

Ron

A question I have been meaning to ask: The gear set I have with the lathe are plastic (nylon I think) should these be lubricated with anything in particular or just general lubricants.

Ron

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the advice, it did cross my mind that the rear screws could be for something other than locking screws. I found it odd that the two screws are not equi spaced off the tailstock centre but the pair are offset to one side.

I will wait until I turn a centre in the chuck and have a good play then. I can see how the rear screw nearest the tailstock edge could pivot the tailstock around the underside fixing screw.

Will let you know how I get on.

Ron

Removed the bottom plate and as suspected the 2 x M6 screws act on block which is part of the plate, these adjust the tailstock across the bed and the 2 x M4 screws act on the back face of the block locking it in position. Glad I removed the plate as there was quite a bit of swarf in there and it was bone dry. Cleaned it all out and lubricated the cams and cam gears for the quick release.

Its only aligned by eye at the moment but will turn up a centre in the chuck to set the tail centre against.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 23/06/2018 17:41:41

I have a problem with the set of wheels and axles I purchased for the 0-4-0.

I have spoken with the supplier and he found that the complete batch of wheels from which my set are from all have the same fault. The wheels are normally machined so they are a sliding fit on the axle seat to within 2-3mm from the axle shoulder and then pressed on against the shoulder. Excuse the quick rough sketch below but you can probably see from the dimensions that my wheels will do this but back to front i.e. with the wheel flange to the outside.

The supplier is producing a new batch of wheels and when ready will send me a replacement set. He also told me to keep the set I was sent and if I can salvage them for now or in the future then fine. My thoughts are to reduce the axle seat to allow the wheels to slide to within approx 2mm of the shoulder ready for pressing on. This would of course leave a difference of 4 thou at the outer end of the axle seat/wheel but I think the wheel would sit square once pressed against the shoulder. Also if I pressed the wheels on and used some Loctite retainer this would take up the 2 thou gap around the wheel/axle.

Hope my explanation makes sense and would be interested to hear if there is an easier/better way of dealing with it.

Regards

Ron

I adjusted the carriage rack as per Hoppers instruction and it worked a treat (thank you Hopper), the handwheel feels much smoother now. I should mention that before I made any adjustment I removed the rack as I could see evidence of paint in the rack teeth. It would seem that the factory paint the lathe bed with the rack attached but mine was poorly masked and had paint in between the teeth, some of which was quite thick. It was easily removed with a wire brush, plus the rack was very dry so I lubricated it.

Having removed the 3 jaws from the chuck I found no burrs or any other visible problems. I did try the set of jaws in the other two positions and one of them made the chuck feel a little easier so have gone with that. Winding the chuck key is still a bit stiffer than I would like but its not too bad and I hope it will ease with use.

I have also removed the spring loaded plunger from under the tool post as it only allows the post to rotate in one direction which I think is a bit of a pain.

Ron

Today I pulled my cheapie bench drill and vice from the back of the old shed, they had been in there for over eight years so wasnt looking forward to what I,d find.

I was quite surprised though, there was some surface rust but not as much I thought there may be.

Half an hour with a rotary wire brush and some 3 in 1, a few adjustments and they are serviceable.

The drill is a CH10 model, it states on the label "performance and power"...wow...

Actually it is not a bad little drill for a cheap import, I must have been lucky but the quill is very good for one of these machines and the chuck is half decent. Its quite useful for general drilling etc, so should see a fair bit of use.

Ron

Thanks Neil

My CJ18 looks identical to Warco,s super mini lathe. The tailstock does have quick release and there are 2 x M6 grubs, one low down towards the rear of the front face and the other repeated on the back face. I am guessing that these must be for the adjustment but there is also a pair of M4 grubs about 30mm apart low down underneath the handwheel. I am thinking these may be locking screws once adjusted but I,m not certain.

Ron

Thanks Hopper, Thats really helpful I will give it a try.

Regards

Ron

A quick update on what I,ve found with my new mini lathe.

There is no evidence of any damage and all parts seem to be present except there is no manual. I,ve printed a copy off from the suppliers website but it looks years old and judging by the images in the manual the latest version lathe seems to have moved on a fair bit. Also you cant really call it a manual it contains the bare minimum and leaves a lot to be desired, so you have to work a lot out for yourself. I do have a copy of Neils book on the mini lathe which is excellent for the beginner, I would recommend it.

Everything on the lathe works as it should and I have found most of the parts to be well adjusted.

The cross slide and top slide have no play or side to side float in them and both are very smooth to operate. The cross slide has 3 thou of backlash and the top slide has 5 thou. The tailstock is very smooth but needs centre adjusting, I,ve only checked it by eye at the moment but the vertical looks spot on but the horizontal looks to be around 10-15 thou off centre.

I suspect the saddle is well adjusted but the the apron handwheel could be smoother. Its as if you can feel the rack through the handle which makes it feel lumpy, I,m hoping this can be adjusted.

The 3 jaw chuck is a bit stiffer than I would like and was wondering if I maintain the jaw 1-2-3 sequence but move them around 120 degrees to the other two positions if it would help...maybe not.

I am waiting for a dial gauge with magnetic stand so have not checked the run out on the chuck as yet.

So this is what I,ve found so far, but overall I am really pleased it seems to have been quite well setup at the factory.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 21/06/2018 09:25:09

Thanks Jon, I will organise getting them.

Dave, I have quite a few friends who can offer support but to be honest I try to use them as little as possible, not that I,m ungrateful its just wanting to do as much myself as possible. I dont have a green wheel for the grinder so the offer of a skilled turner to sharpen the carbide set was too good to turn down. Mistakes....well I make plenty of those, lucky is the man that doesnt make any, though in reality I doubt that there are many of them about.

Edited By Ron Laden on 20/06/2018 16:58:34

Thanks Ian, do you need all 3, the coarse, medium and fine..?  

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 20/06/2018 11:10:52

Well one bit of good news re the carbide set, my engineering manager friend said he will take them to his work and get one of the turners to put an edge on them all for me. I have the HSS set on the way but it will be good to compare the two types once I have them.

Ron

I also dont know why Alan but I,m guessing cost. When I ordered the lathe I was considering the full package deal where you get the lathe and a host of accessories. However I decided against it and phoned asking for the best price for the lathe a set of cutting tools and a tailstock chuck and I got a really good deal.

I didnt think about the type of tools I would receive but obviously assumed it would be a working set ready to go. The supplier does a HSS set for about £45 and the brazed set I was sent is just over £20 so you can see how that came about as part of the deal.

Your right though Alan whats the point of sending out tooling that needs finishing when many of the mini lathes will be going out to beginners.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 19/06/2018 19:49:45

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I have ordered a HSS set from ArcEuro as per the picture Jon posted at the start of the thread. I,m hoping I will pick up the tool grinding ok, I am ok at sharpening drill bits free hand. I was taught by an old engineer many moons ago and it stuck with me.

Having looked at them again I dont think the carbide set have been sharpened, ground to shape yes, but sharpened no. I dont have a green wheel so they will have to wait before I give them a try.

Thanks again guys

Ron